Sonic Stars
by StarSparklez
Summary: Eggman and his new plan to conquer the world equals Sonic Heroes in a new adventure. But'Destiny is twisted, a real triple helix'. When the oddest pairs are forced into team work, interesting competitions ensue. Not always for popularity either.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** I've been wanting to write a Sonic fic for ages, now. What triggered me to do it now?_

_It's simple really…_

_On a peaceful evening, much like this one, I realized something, suddenly, when I asked myself: 'Just what is stopping me from actually typing my story and posting it so people can laugh at me, flame and shoot me?'. So 'myself' answered me with the air of wisdom 'Nothing but thy incurable laziness, you happy fool.'_

_Sometimes, I hate these pushy voices inside my head, don't you?_

_**DISCLAIMER:** If I owned Sonic, the world wouldn't be as it is now. BELIEVE ME!_

* * *

**Sonic Stars _by StarSparklez _**

_Chapter One: Cling, cling! What's there?_

_-_

Just another beautiful day in the peaceful Station Square. The sun shone brightly on this glorious spring day and flowers bloomed everywhere. Today, even the smallest, most insignificant peaces of soil stood out and proudly showed their crops, the best leaves of green, blossoms with petals of colors that shamed the finest rainbows.

Children came out to play as elders watched them affectionately, couples walked hand in hand and even loners found opportunity in this lovely day to appreciate nature's beauty. The sea was particularly inspiring too, reflecting a perfectly cloudless sky in its clear fluidity, in so, adding to its vastness, seemingly removing the frontiers between earth and heaven.

Yes, the horizon was a most amazing blue today._ Blue…_

Amy Rose sighed.

Yes, _blue_. Much like a certain hedgehog on her mind. Of course, that was the case most of the time and not just today. No, what made today different was the way the small pangs in her chest were a little more painful. Why? Well, probably because it was a most romantic day and Sonic The Hedgehog was not there to enjoy it with her. In short, she missed him today more then usual.

She hadn't even gotten the chance to ask him to join her this time; he'd ran off somewhere to play heroes again before she could try.

Tails was on the verge of finishing a major invention of his, so Amy knew better then to ask him to hang around; but even he was putting the final touch to his machine _in the garden_, outside.

Cream, needless to say, was having the time of her life, with her mother Vanilla and their chaos, trying out every possible mix of ice cream flavors they could buy. Big was most likely out fishing with Froggy, and Knuckles and his Angel Island were far out of reach.

Hence, Amy Rose found herself sitting by the beach, staring at the horizon, alone, thinking,

_I really, hardly will ever understand how anyone can be on their own, all the time and still live fine that way._

Thoughts of a few people she knew then followed: Knuckles, away on his flying island with no companions other then chaos and the master emerald; Rouge, probably also alone with nothing but jewels but a lot happier about it…

"And Shadow," she reminded herself out loud, "Shadow's like that too."

"I hope that by that, you are not judging me against that faker." Spoke a profound voice behind her, surprising her.

She turned around and faced a black hedgehog with fiery amber eyes.

"Shadow!" she exclaimed.

He kept his dark expression, arms crossed.

"So?"

"Huh?" Amy was confused.

"What were you thinking when you spoke my name?"

"Oh!", she understood, "Just, that you were a loner, kind of like Knuckles."

"That red echidna? Humph. I'm The Ultimate Lifeform, nothing like him." Shadow almost sounded offended.

"He's a guardian," said Amy simply, as if that explained it.

Shadow regarded her for an instant, mutely, curiously.

The short silence got Amy a little uncomfortable, so,

"So, what brings you around here?" she asked.

"I'm running 'around here'. Sitting around at Rouge's in such a favorable weather would have been foolish."

"Oh yeah," she replied quietly. Shadow was unwittingly reminding her why she felt upset.

"So where's that faker?" he asked after an instant.

"Sonic?" Amy jumped, "He's—he… Kinda, went for a run too. Somewhere."

She mumbled that last part and looked away for a while before something dawned on her,

"Wait. Why are _you _looking for him?"

Shadow looked taken aback "I would never bother to find that faker. Unless, perhaps, that is to break his neck. It's Bat Girl who needs him."

"Huh? What? Rouge? But why?"

* * *

"Huh? What? Rouge? But why?"

Tails nodded to the three first, then shrugged to the last one. Odd movements to realize in raw as it made him feel wobbly. He explained,

"She called me this morning. I'm still not certain how she got the number yet. She seemed sincere enough though, she asked quite nicely that I tell you, she needs you to come see her at her place."

Sonic nodded once,

"Did she say it was urgent?"

Tails shook his head,

"No, and she didn't sound anxious or anything either. She just said that 'sometime today would be nice' the second time she called."

"Some weird kind of invitation this is. I don't know if we can trust her but I'll go anyway. You stay here and just finish what you're working on."

"But Sonic—" Tails started protesting but was cut off,

"No Tails! You stay here," he said a little more firmly then he'd intended.

Tails' expression showed perfectly his hurt at the surprising, unusual bite in his 'big brother' 's voice. However it wasn't long before Sonic apologized,

"Sorry Bro', that didn't come out quite right. Just got a lot on my mind lately."

The two-tailed fox nodded understandingly. "It's okay," he reassured.

Then, he remembered something.

"Amy was looking for you today."

Sonic's expression got odd at the mention of the pink hedgehog but he artfully put nonchalance in his voice as he stated calmly,

"Well, I'm not surprised she did. That girl never gives up."

"Much like someone I know," remarked Tails intelligently.

At that, Sonic had to chuckle.

"Yeah, got that right. Like many of us, in fact."

He turned to go.

"See ya later, Tails."

"Bye."

Although the two-tailed fox waved his hero goodbye smiling, he couldn't help but worry a little about the strange attitude the hedgehog had shown today.

* * *

_Somewhere. Location unknown. 00:00 hours._ (Gasp! Midnight!)

An evil laugh resonated throughout Eggman's newest secret laboratory.

"Hohohohoho! Mwahaaha haha! Hahohohaha!" (o.O;) **_(1)_**

Thunder rolled and a bizarre shadow rose on the wall.

"It's alive! Hahaha!"

And as if to prove Dr.Robotnic's words, in that precise instant, two red pupils glowed in the darkened room.

-

To be continued…**_(2)_**

* * *

****

_**A/N: **_

_**1**-Here the authoress watches impressively as the evil doctor accomplishes with perfect silliness and exaggeration the 'evil laugh'. She knows she would die and choke before she could attempt a similar one._

_**2**-Sorry about the last scene, you guys. I just thought we needed a bit of comic relief before the end of this silly and first chapter. And what's there better then a mortal, immortal cliché when you can't think of anything original? ;) _


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** Oh my! You're actually here, reading chapter two! Please make yourself at home and enjoy. _

_**DISCLAIMER:** Needless to say, if I owned Sonic, I'd be really rich. So let's see. :Checks pockets to find a gum in one and a hole in the other: Nope, I still do not own them._

* * *

**Sonic Stars _by StarSparklez _**

_Chapter two: Picture a flame?_

_-_

When Sonic entered Rouge's guest room, in her club, he was half-surprised to find her already hosting, though somewhat grudgingly, three acquaintances.

"Sorry Rouge, but unless he shows up now, I don't see any good reason for us to stay any longer," said Vector, standing from where he sat on the red sofa. Rouge stopped him, pushing him back on it. She sounded irritated.

"When I said 'Wait until Sonic arrives', I meant for it to sound like an order, Vector, not a suggestion. I _paid_ you guys for this, it's not like you're choosing to do me a favor so stay still."

"But we're bored!" said Charmy dramatically.

Espio just sat silent, watching as Rouge glared holes into the little bee.

"Maybe, I should spray you with insecticide. I'm sure that'll help you calm down and be a little less hyper," she threatened icily.

Charmy gulped audibly, earning a visible but small smile from Espio. Before Sonic could decide whether or not he wanted to reveal his presence however, Espio spoke without looking up.

"I think our 'grounds' to stay has finally arrived."

All heads in the room turned in direction of the door where Sonic still stood.

"Well it's about time. Sonic, welcome. Have a seat." Said Rouge. Sonic noticed that although she sounded commanding, there was no more bite in her voice. He hesitated,

"Huh, thanks Rouge. I think I'd rather stay standing until you tell me what's going on."

Vector spoke neglecting Sonic's demand of explanations.

"What took you so long?" he asked annoyed.

Charmy would have probably made a whiny remark but the insecticide threat and Rouge's very scary glare were still fresh in his memory. So, of course, since the latter consented to staying as quiet as if non-existent, the next comment came from rouge.

"Yes, for the world fastest hedgehog, this sure is poor performance," then her typical teasing smile broke as she taunted him, "Had it been your little pink friend instead of me, I bet you'd have_ flown _your way here."

An almost invisible dust of red appeared on Sonic's face as he retorted defensively, "Hey, come on! Leave Amy out of this. I came as soon as I heard from Tails. I didn't even think I'd be important."

"Do you really believe I would have had _you_ and that bunch of creeps come here if it weren't important?" she pointed with a thumb towards Team Chaotix who didn't look too happy about her choice of terms.

Vector made a "Hey!" and opened his huge jaws to speak a protest but he refrained from doing so when in a flash, literally, two people materialized in the room.

A weight 'like a thousand chili dogs' dropped in Sonic's stomach, suddenly but gone in a split second, when he saw Amy appear, clinging tightly to Shadow like her life depended on it.

"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed, "What did I tell you about teleporting in my place!"

Amy's eyes opened at hearing Rouge's voice and her head jerked up from where she had it hidden against Shadow to look around. When the bat saw that, her taunting smile reappeared and,

"Well, playing Dark Heroes are we now Shadow? You were quick finding yourself a damsel too."

"Quit it, Rouge," Shadow snapped, "I am no hero. She just, insisted to come along when she heard that blue hedgehog was going to be here."

The 'she' in question looked a little dazed, which perhaps explained why she still held onto Shadow's arm.

"And as for using the chaos control, " continued Shadow unrelenting, "I had to. The streets are swarmed with police on the way here. I even spotted a few G.U.N helicopters. Something is happening."

"What?" Rouge sounded surprised, "What are you saying? Everything looked so peaceful just earlier today, I don't—"

"Amy?" called Sonic reluctantly.

At the sound of her hero's voice Amy snapped back to reality like a napping child called out for dessert.

"Sonic!" she cried as she spotted him, releasing Shadow, she ran for him.

"Humph! Easy on the ribs Amy," wheeze Sonic as her she hugged the life out of him.

Something dawned on Rouge. Then, she gasped, slapping a hand to her own cheek,

"I remember now! I knew it must have been important. I found two missed calls from Headquarters earlier, but I was too preoccupied with—Wait here, guys. I'll call them back."

And she ran out of the room, while Sonic _slowly, nicely _peeled his number one fan off him.

"Amy, what's wrong with you?" he asked noticing the way her movement felt frail. Had she been in her usual super-fit-and-hyper shape, her hug would surely, normally have broken him at least one rib. He turned to Shadow with an accusing look,

"What did you do to her, faker?"

"I did nothing to harm her, you fake hedgehog—"

"It's the chaos…" said Amy weakly interrupting them both before their argument could get more serious.

"Oh, yeah." It dawned on Sonic what must have happened to her.

"The sensation from chaos control does take a while getting used to," Shadow refined, "Even Rouge was completely out of it the first time, when I teleported her from Prison Island."

"Yeah, I remember," said Sonic offhandedly, "one other reason why I like running better."

He was looking down at Amy who was getting loose in his arms. She obviously was about to faint. He made to sit her on the couch from which Vector had just stood. The Crocodile was now kindly ushering him to put her where he'd been sitting. While Espio, who'd also sat up to leave room to Amy, interrogated Shadow,

"When were you and Rouge on Prison Island?"

"Forget about that. It was a long time from now," the black hedgehog replied quickly, then, "Why don't you start on what Rouge has brought you here for?"

"Huh! That's right I almost forgot!" Charmy piped up for the first time since Rouge wasn't around to scold him, "Hey Sonic, we need you to describe that cat princess friend of yours. So Vector can draw her. You know, the one from the other world."

"Blaze? You need her portrait?" he turned to Vector next to him, "Why?"

"Your guess' as good as ours," answered Vector, "Rouge was very insistent that we make one for her so she got us here. Said she wasn't sure she could make a good one herself; didn't you notice her bandaged arm?"

"Yeah, but—"

"We wouldn't have bothered for such a trivial task had the pay for it not been so convincing," said Espio bitterly.

"Okay, but—" Sonic tried again.

"Now what, Espio? It's not like you to be complaining—" Vector who'd cut him off was now in his turn, cut off by Sonic,

"Why didn't you ask Cream for this? She sure could give you a much more detailed picture of her then I can now."

"Because I couldn't reach her."

Sonic turned around to face Rouge as she entered the room, cordless phone in hand.

"What do you mean, _you_ couldn't reach her?" asked her Sonic cautiously.

"Well, when I called him earlier," she started, "Fox Boy sounded very protective of your little bunny friend.

"The first thing I asked of him was where I could find her. He pointedly refused to tell me, saying he did not trust me enough to risk endangering her. So I told him I thought it was cute he was so caring of his little girlfriend. Believe it or not, I could practically _hear_ the poor boy's blush on the other line."

Vector allowed himself a chuckle at her _'little joke'_ (She most probably would have called it that). Shadow and Espio acted either deaf or totally indifferent (Were they competing at that or what?), while Charmy peeped,

"Hey! She's not his girlfriend, you know."

"Drop the act, Rouge," Sonic didn't sound amused, "I think Tails' had the smart reaction. What's all this about? Will you explain?"

When he saw Rouge's only answer was to raise her eyebrow skeptically, he turned to her comrade instead,

"Shadow, where is this going? You tell me, now."

Shadow looked away from the unconscious Amy he'd been regarding and said coolly,

"Relax, faker. The answer to all your questions is right behind you."

Sonic only turned when he heard Rouge speak behind him to someone,

"Oh, so you're awake now?"

Sonic's jaw dropped as he saw and recognized the cat girl who walked into the room, rubbing her eyes.

-

_To be continued…_

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_YEY! A real cliffy! Yeah:dances the Macarena until readers shoot her down with various items, some of which she REALLY would have liked to dodge:_

_Okay, so sorry about this one-scene, laborious chapter. I promise if you give me nice feedback I'll try and do my best to have a better chapter for next time, 'kay?_

_Though you'll probably still find elements in it that will push you to shooting me down again. Make that way down under..._

_Thanks for reading so far. Until next chappie, take care wonderful people._

_Oh, one last thing btw! I request a **beta-reader** for my sonic fic. If anyone is interested please, feel free to reach me through PM._


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** Goodness! Reviews! Real reviews! I'm so happy! Keep those coming, it makes me write better and faster. I love you all, wonderful reviewers! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter._

_**DISCLAIMER:** Sega owns them! Not me! Sega! Yes! That's right. Sega, not me. Keep telling yourself that. Chant it until the harsh, bitter reality grinds your teeth and sinks in. Works with me, most of the time. _

* * *

**Sonic Stars _by StarSparklez _**

_Chapter three: An extra Nights?_

_-_

_"Relax, faker. The answer to all your questions is right behind you."_

_Sonic only turned when he heard Rouge speak behind him to someone,_

_"Oh, so you're awake now?"_

_Sonic's jaw dropped as he saw and recognized the cat girl who walked into the room, rubbing her eyes._

She yawned, stretched, then looked around the room through half-closed lids, the drowsiest expression on her face. Next, she collapsed against Rouge with a snore.

"Sleepwalking again, aren't you?" breathed Rouge as she caught her, "Silly girl. Help me set her on the couch."

She didn't sound like she were addressing anyone in particular so Shadow and Espio made no move to show they'd heard her. Sonic and Charmy, however, moved forwards to get a closer look, as Vector took her from Rouge' arms and set her small sleeping form on the sofa, next to the unconscious Amy.

"I never thought I'd meet _her_ here," Sonic mused out loud.

"Yes, the crossing between our worlds must have been a much more major one than last time," deduced Vector, "This proves to be even more serious then I'd previously thought. "

"Yeah. Even Knuckles' Angel Island is now floating somewhere above the Pacific—"

"She's pretty," remarked Charmy interrupting Sonic as he hovered over the settee. Sonic said nothing.

"Poor thing was exhausted when I found her roaming about alongside the beach," said Rouge, "There's so few of us from our world here. I decided I'd invite her to stay with me."

"You weren't so charitable a few weeks back from now," observed Vector.

Rouge sneered,

"Well, that's _because_, a few weeks ago 'Sir Detective', I still hadn't regained full trust from the government in this world," she said matter-of-factly,

" We're in a totally different time from when we last were here, Vector. They had to go over what little files concerning me were left in their archives _before_ providing me with what I now have: a place of my own and my old job as a government spy. Believe me, convincing them I was the actual, same Rouge from 50 years ago was not simple."

Then, in a dangerously sweeter voice she continued,

"Then again, with all of those glorious previous achievements of mine on the record, they hardly could have refused offering me _anything_ I requested."

"Yes, but did you have to make it the exact, same replica of Club Rouge in Babylon?" reprimanded Vector.

"Anything that can help this place feel like home is worth a try," she stated with a nonchalant shrug.

But Rouge did not exactly look pleased and she still held the phone in her hand. Shadow noticed this. However she spoke again, though in a rather drained voice,

"You guys all look a little tired. Might as well rest it tonight, since things seem unstable outside."

Sonic raised an eyebrow apprehensively,

"You want us to stay here for the night?"

"Inviting _us_! Rouge?" exclaimed Vector.

The bat's grip tightened on her phone as she turned to face them with a 'slighted' glare. Charmy was pretty sure it was the scariest she'd displayed so far.

She started murderously,

"If you guys can think of anywhere _else_ you—" but Sonic's bright voice immediately disrupted her. He shook his hands in front of her.

"No, it's not like that, Rouge. We quite appreciate the offer, actually. Thanks. Really, you just surprised us, that's all."

Sonic thought he'd heard her sight before she gave a humph,

"Never underestimate a female's ability to surprise you, Sonic. You just might regret it. Or not." She laughed saying this before she left the room.

Sonic let out a small sight of relief, reassured to have heard that last remark which had sounded a lot more like Rouge's old self. _Her behavior tonight did feel rather odd._

However, Rouge was right: it had been a long day for everyone. And he certainly couldn't just leave, at least not until Amy awoke. That, and he was curious about this processing fusion of the worlds in this dimension. He knew it was bound to be unfavorable for everyone, save maybe for Eggman should he decide on a crazy plan to take over the two worlds at once. And it was still unclear to him what Blaze, in her third world, had to do with any of it.

Basically, staying at New Club Rouge for the night did not sound like such a bad idea. Besides, when you thought about it, the company wasn't all that bad.

" Well then…

"Time to play cards!" shouted Vector as he raised a deck in his hand for everyone to see.

"Yeah!" Charmy cheered.

Even Espio grinned as he nodded.

_So, yeah. This could turn out to be fun after all._

Shadow, however, declined Vector's invitation to join the game saying coolly,

"I prefer taking my rest and be ready for whatever it is that G.U.N might throw at us tomorrow. The agitation you saw in the streets today wasn't coincidental, for certain."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Might as well have a little fun while you still can," said Sonic lightly. Shadow uncrossed his arm and shook his head 'no'.

"I have better to do," was the last the black hedgehog said before exiting the room, leaving the trio alone 'to mess with their time as they pleased'.

Sonic shrugged as he turned to the Chaotix,

"His loss. So what game are we playing?"

Vector and the two other conscious ones gave him a '_look'_,

"What do you think?" said the green one.

_Was the answer to that really so obvious, that Sonic should have known?_

* * *

Cliffy! NO! No, kidding! Just Kidding! _:ducks as a refrigerator is thrown for her head:_

Okay! Okay! Here, go on and read ahead!

* * *

_In Tails' workshop…_

_-_

The two-tailed fox was busy fidgeting throughout bits and pieces scattered all over the floor for one particular, minuscule item. It had been this way for nearly the past half-hour and so, needless to say, Tails was getting quite aggravated in his search.

It had been exactly _twenty-six minutes_ since he'd dropped the box that had contained all these pieces. The reason for which that happened he did not like to recall. Stupid Rouge and her stupid way of suggesting things that were just _'not like that'_.

Making stupid calls.

He picked an object and examined it. It was not what he was looking for so he casually chucked it back in the box. He'd bother putting it all back in order later, when he found what he needed.

_Twenty-seven minutes of searching…_

_Aha! _Found something. A small key. He recalled how he'd been looking all over for it back a few weeks ago. He held it for a few seconds, then tossed it in the box with the rest.

_Twenty-eight minutes now._

Somehow, he just knew he'd eventually end up needing that very same small key sometime soon. And also knew that, when that happened, he'd just be forced to go rummaging through the box for it again. It was just the kind of annoying things that never failed to happen: 'things disappeared just when you needed them'(much like some friends, sometimes). But the truth was, right this instant, he did not care. All that mattered now was that he found that 'stupid, stupid piece of junk'.

_Twenty-nine fruitlessly wasted minutes._

_It fit enough to say that this was the end of the 'countdown' (or was it more like a 'count-up'?) to which Tails finally exploded._

"Aaarrgh!" He cried, "That's it! I'm giving up!"

"On what?"

Tails literally jumped up from his position on all four on the floor and turned around abruptly to face the owner of that sweet voice.

"Hi Cream," he breathed in surprise.

"Hi Tails."

"Chao! Tails!"

"Hi to you too, Cheese. What's up?"

"We were in town with Mama. We found these delicious pies at the market and decided we'd bring you and Mr.Sonic some to try."

"Yeah?" Tails couldn't help a little curiosity, his stomach had been obstinately generating sound of complaints since before Sonic's depart.

"Yup!" Chirped Cream happily, beam reaching her ears. "So come on, let's go back to the garden and eat. Mama is going to make us some tea."

"I was in the garden, Cream," told her Tails, "It's just that I'm looking for this stup—this small piece to finish my machine and, among all this stuff…" he gestured to the muddle on the floor, "It's just hard," he finished and then added, voice full of grudge, "_And_ annoying."

Cream looked about the floor silently, as Tails glared at it as if reproaching the ground for not making the object of his long search jump into view.

Then,

"Can I help you find it? What does it look like?"

Tails sighed. He was happy Cream was always so willing to help but he was, still, a bit irritated. However, when it came to Cream, he never allowed himself to manifest such emotions. She'd never treated him with anything but kindness and deserved as much in return.

"Yeah, sure." Who could resist those eyes anyway, sparkling with innocent hope? "It looks like a very small plane and is colored in red and purple.

Cream was already bent down, inspecting the ground when she nodded her comprehension. It was only a matter of seconds before she pointed at a spot besides Tails' shoe.

"It is that one?" she asked.

Tails looked down,

"Where? I don't see it."

"Here, silly," she giggled.

She picked it and, still crouched down, handed the tiny item to him. Tails took and inspected it, his face a mixed expression of surprise and relief. He looked down at the little Cream, still kneeling in front of him, her expression uncertain and maybe a little expectant. There was an awkward, short moment of silence as Cheese floated over them both.

_Who'd ever said anything about Hero Chaos or angels hovering over embarrassedly at such moments?_

Finally Cream broke the silence by asking reluctantly,

"Isn't this the one?"

That's when Tails snapped out of it, shaking his head and smiling reassuringly,

"Oh, no! That's precisely what I was looking for. Thanks, Cream."

She smiled happily as she took the hand he offered her and helped her stand.

"You're welcome."

"Chao!"

Tails turned to the clock in small curiosity.

_Precisely thirty minutes had passed since he'd dropped that container._

_Odd butamazing still, how time can pass, sometimes._

_'The cheeriness in those two is really contagious', _thought Tails as he raised the fist that held the finally-found object in the air, shouting lively,

"Eureka! Now we can go finish my work on the Tornado!"

"Yey!"cried Cheese and Cream imitating him.

"Let's go eat some pie!"

All seemed perfect as they were making their way out, until Cream asked,

"Do you think Cosmo would like to join us?"

Tail's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name.

_Sweet, kind, caring, gentle, loving and selfless Cosmo._

He turned to where Cream was looking at the beautiful green plant that stood alone on a table in the middle Tails' workshop. The light that passed through the window right above of it shone on her like it did on no other plant on earth. _'Or in the in the entire universe'_, thought Tails.

"Well, I really don't know," he started in a worried tone that sounded nothing like the usual Tails, "I'm not too sure but, I thought she felt a little frailer then usual after last time I left her outside. So, maybe not today."

Cream nodded in understanding,

"Okay. You're right, the weather is still unpredictable outside these days anyway. Maybe it's safer she stays inside."

She offered him a smile and then turned to Cosmo, crying enthusiastically,

"We'll be right back for you Cosmo. Don't worry. You take care now."

"Chao! Cosmo."

Then Cream ran for the stairs, followed by Cheese,

"Come on, let's not keep Mama waiting, Tails."

And just before disappearing from view, he heard her final recommendation to the plant,

"Don't go anywhere while we're gone, Cosmo."

Tails chuckled at that, unheard by Cream as she'd already exited the room, and there was a tint of bitterness to that sound. That bitterness, he knew, couldn't be helped, but nevertheless, Tails still managed a small smile in the new Cosmo's direction as he left to join Lady Vanilla and the others in the garden.

"See you."

* * *

_Back to Club Rouge…_

_-_

Amy Rose's eyes fluttered open and she slowly raised her head to look around. She was lying on an unfamiliar yet unbelievably comfortable red settee. It really felt like it was made of velvet, or silk.

She rose to a sitting position and immediately regretted it, because as soon as she did, her head started spinning and fell back on the couch with a thud. A thud, that awoke the other occupant on the couch.

"Hunh?" was the first sound the female cat uttered before opening her eyes fully and taking a good look at her surrounding. When she noticed Amy lying before her, she moved over to stand right above her on the sofa and spoke in a concerned and curious voice.

"Hi. You okay?"

Amy reopened her eyes and looked up at her, not moving an extra muscle. In normal circumstances, she would probably have jumped in surprise but it seemed she was too drained, even for that. Her answer was very quiet,

"Yeah. I'll be alright." Then, after examining the cat girl who stood over her beaming for a few minutes, she finally asked in turn,

"Who are you?"

The cat girl looked surprised. She questioned her back,

"Don't you know me? Really?"

Amy tried standing again, very slowly this time,

"Well, you do look…very familiar. You resemble someone I know. I think."

The cat girl now sat next to Amy, allowing her to kneel on her side for support. Once balance regained and after a few more moment of observing though, Amy gently shook her head twice and cocked it on one side.

"Actually, on second thought, no. You don't. Not at all. You look nothing like her." She'd noticed the lack of a 'red pearl' on the brow and the black tiger-like stretches.

The cat girl laughed good-naturedly,

"Who's she, anyway?"**_(1)_**

Amy would have answered that had it not been for the interrupting shout that, apparently, came from the side room, right next to them.

"Espio! That's a 5th Nights joker you just dropped!" That had sounded just like Vector.

"I just picked it from Charmy!" spoke Espio defensively.

"Is that true, flyboy?" _Ah! Now that was a voice Amy could recognize anywhere!_

"Sonikku?" _He'd stayed to see her off safely? Aww! She 'always knew he cared'._

Now feeling distinctively better, Amy gestured for her new 'acquaintance' to accompany her towards the source of the voices just as Charmy answered Sonic cheerfully,

"Yep, that's right! Got plenty more where that came from too!"

…

…

Sonic and the Chaotix where still in the middle of those dangerously awkward silences that usually preceded catastrophic storms, when Amy and her companion entered the room.

While such a quiet situation made all of Sonic, Amy and the Cat girl sweatdrop or a couple of nerves pop on both Vector and Espio's temples, it also left Charmy blissfully and completely oblivious.

"Charmy, …" slowly started Vector in a calm but very clearly implying tone.

"Huh?" Only in that very instant did Charmy really seem to notice the disproportionate twitching of Vector's eyebrows. He'd probably have seen the same thing on Espio had the latter not 'vanished' dangerously.

_Oops._

"Oopsie." _Sudden awareness could be so cruel._

Charmy seriously hoped 'Oopsie' was not going to be the last sound he'd utter in his yet too short existence.

But thankfully for the little bee, authors usually are merciful when it comes to children characters._( No use showing them too much violence when they're still underage. We prefer doing that in fics where we make them older. :evil chuckle:)_

"Uh, guys?" hesitated Sonic, trying to lighten the general mood.

"Sonic!" did not hesitate Amy, shouting and succeeding in breaking the thick atmosphere. All heads turned in her direction. Including Espio's invisible one.

"Little miss! And other little miss! You're both better, already!" exclaimed Vector pleasantly, the change in voice from his last sentence fairly surprising and quite impressive.

Little Charmy breathed out a 'phew' as Sonic held his breath instead, foreseeing the coming, squashing hug.

"Oh, hi Amy. You're feeling better? I mean—huh, are you not tired anymore?" he almost sounded hopeful.

"I can never be too tired when you're around, silly!"

And she ran towards him, arms outstretched…

-

_To be continued…_

* * *

_**A/N:**_

_:Ducks as various heavy weapons are mercilessly shot her way:_

_**1- **He heh! adjusts protective metal helmet on her head Bet practically ALL of you fell for it! You thought I was gonna have Blaze bash in so easily? ;P Worry not however Blaze fans, your time will come. I promise._

_**Next chapter: **Knuckles finally makes his entrance so look out for it!_

_Ja Ne._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** A lot fewer reviews for last chapter, I see. Was it really that bad? How depressing. Don't know if I should continue boring you guys, if none of you are interested in reading this any longer.

Just let me know 'kay?

**DISCLAIMER:** I really, truly wish I did own them but… I don't. But that's just life isn't it?

One thing is for sure though, if I did own them, I would never, ever have committed the abominable sin that was handing Sonic X over to 4KidsEntertainment for dubbing (They couldn't even handle Pokemon!). Boy, do I miss the voice actors from SA2…

**

* * *

**

**Sonic Stars _by StarSparklez _**

Chapter four: That Star?

-

A zap of blinding light tore through the dark night sky. Seconds later, thunder roared violently, startling Rouge in her bed and mercilessly ending too few hours of restless sleep.

_Yes,_ although warmly wrapped beneath soft and light covers, in a large and comfy bed, under the roof of a house that lacked nothing from the one she called 'home' in her original world, Rouge still was restless.

It was part of her nature, this need to constantly be on guard, conscious of every movement in her close surroundings. Or perhaps her way of life, that of a thief who played double-agent to complete her treasure-hunting persona over the years, was the true reason for her paranoia.

She barely trusted anyone, if she did at all. '_But still'_, she thought; she should have remembered, that mistrusting others was different from having others mistrust you the same way, if not in a graver way.

And that was where her problem now lied: they did _not_ trust her. They'd made that very clear, the people at G.U.N. The present President did not appear to like her either, and the life she currently held solely depended on his suspicious intents with her. Should she take a false step now and confirm their suspicions of her, they'd be after her in no time.

Evidently, they were willing to take her out of the picture just to calm away their own doubts. Somehow, she felt she couldn't really blame them, if what they were feeling was in any way comparable to the restiveness that now slowly wore her down, more and more, day by day, fear and doubt consuming her every rational thought.

But was she really such a threat to them in the first place, that they had to keep so wary of her every action?

"Of course not," she answered herself quietly, moving out of bed. She knew sleep wasn't coming back to her anytime soon now. Unless…

She walked in through an open door into an adjacent room, where she opened a cabinet above a small bar and withdrew a bottle of her strongest liquor. She poured herself a glass, difficultly with her one good arm, before sitting at the small bar counter holding it close, staring down at it._**(1)**_

_'Of course not',_ it wasn't just about her. She considered this as she raised the crystal glass to her lips,_ 'he' also, undoubtedly, somehow had to be involved, whether directly or not—'_

Her thoughts were interrupted as a hand reached to cover the top of the glass, stopping it before it reached her lips. She raised tired eyes to look up at the intruder and, in the penumbra of the room, that wasn't a simple deed. He blinded in so perfectly in the darkness, the object of her preceding thoughts…

Weird, that she hadn't heard him approaching.

"Shadow," she acknowledge, speaking more calmly then she felt. "Joining me for a drink?"

She didn't see his frown, she heard it in his voice when he spoke next,

"I thought you once declared yourself, you'd rather see your reflection in a mirror then in the bottom of a glass."**_(2)_**

"I thought you weren't listening," she replied flatly as if that gave her enough reason to drink that gulp, she raised it again to her mouth. Shadow snatched the glass away from her, before she could taste it and set it loudly on the counter._Click, bang, went the glass._

_'Ouch,'_ thought Rouge. Just what was pissing _him _off anyway? She was the one with a sore bandaged arm.

"I always listen, Rouge. Whether or not to you it appears that I do. Now, I strongly suggest you stop this. Unless you want your _'guests'_ to see you in the morning, waking up with a hangover."

She chuckled at the way he's spat the word 'guests'. She'd completely forgotten about the Chaotix and hedgehogs spending the night in her place. She laughed,

"Didn't think you were the sensitive type, Shadow. Did I ever care what any others think of me? My job not involved that is."

"Yes." The black hedgehog replied plainly.

Rouge, who hadn't expected an answer at all, was surprised by this.

"Oh, yeah? Who?" She asked, a single eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"The kitten." He said simply.

It looked like something she's forgotten had just re-dawned on her, because she turned away before letting out a small 'Oh'.

"Oh," she repeated, more softly, "Yes, that's true."

Shadow just regarded her silently as she chuckled somewhat bitterly,

"My little ward."

"That's right."

She looked at him through half-closed lids, for once that was the case due to her tiredness, it was not an act of flirtation. Goodness! Even Shadow knew that if it weren't for this accumulated exhaustion she would have spent the night awake and about, the way she loved it, the world in the dark.

Not because she was a vampire or anything of the sort, but because she was a bat; Rouge the Bat.

And Rouge the Bat was not going to bed tonight unless she did drink that glass Shadow still held away from her reach.

"Alright then, let me get rid of this," she started moving to take the object of her thirst from the black hedgehog's hand. However, the latter swiftly moved it further away,

"Allow me."

He tightened his grip on the glass, causing it to shatter and break into hundreds of flying crystal shards, the fluid it had contained exploding all over the counter. Much to Rouge amazement and chagrin.**_(3)_**

Normally, she probably would have either yelled or glared at him for it, but his actions tonight had surprised her and she certainly did not feel anywhere near 'normal'.

So she just let it go. All of it. It went spilling like her drink.

"You know," she sighed finally, "It really wasn't simple… convincing them. Of anything."

She turned her head to look at him as he responded quietly,

"I know."

"I first thought they'd allowed me back into their circle, so impressed with my eminent skills and so, unwilling to risk allowing me to join forces with anyone other then them…

"Turns out… I'm not too sure, anymore… Perhaps deleting all files I'd retrieved concerning Project Shadow, the ARK, you, wasn't enough.

"Or maybe destroying those references wasn't the smart thing. There were also people concerned, not just documents. Those are more delicate to handle… Perhaps the whole ARK incident is just another or one of those historical incidents humans refuse allowing themselves to forget. You know, the kind they like constantly reminding—"

"The broken moon probably helps at that, I understand." said Shadow, interrupting her, he gave a meaningful glance in her direction,

"However, I assure you, no harm will come to you, or me tonight. Rest assured."

She rewarded that rare, kind and reassuring comment from Shadow with a keen smile and he acknowledged her gratitude by nodding once. It was also her cue to follow his advise and she took it, standing from where she sat at the counter, then heading back to her nearby bedroom.

A witty remark from Rouge would have been in order usually, before turning in, but tonight, or what was left of it as dawn was only a few hours away now, the bat consented to a simple "Goodnight".

Shadow _almost_ let out a snicker at hearing that from her as she disappeared into her quarters.

_Almost_.

Instead he formally, softly whispered back,

"You too."

'I hope.'

* * *

Back to a different part of Rouge's house...

-

_In which, Amy Rose is, where we left her last chapter, about to glomp her blue hero._

Or not.

Sonic who'd shut his eyes, anticipating the impact with Amy's running form headed his way, opened them again when he didn't feel the air in his lungs been squeezed into evacuation.

Instead of glomping him, Amy was hugging, seemingly, thin air. The blue hedgehog stood watching, just as confused as the rest of the audience.

It did not take Amy long however to realise that, whatever she was hugging was _not_ Sonic. She abruptly let go with a very squeaky yelp and jumped back a little.

A loud inhilation of air could be heard from somewhere next to her. Suddenly and out of nowhere, the pink hedgehog produced her Piko Piko hammer and swung it just as suddenly at 'the air' she been holding seconds ago.

There must have been contact with some heavy solid body because seconds later a the wall opposite Amy gave a loud 'crash' and, a few more seconds later a thud was heard as a cloud of dust lifted itself off the floor.

Then, looking back at the wall, an interesting imprint of a four limbed creature could be seen. Somehow, it seemed very familiar to Vector's sharp detective eye. Make that extremely familiar. The green reptile put a hand to his lower jaw as he wrecked his brain for the silhouette before him...

"Espio!" cried Charmy dramatically as he flew towards the now slowly reappearing cameleon's limp form on the floor.

This spectacle earned a big sweatdrop from all other characters in the room, including the efigies of Nights on the back of the playing cards Sonic still held in his left hand.

The little bee tried shaking Espio awake, continuously yelling his name.

The ninja managed a short response, lifting his head and opening an eye, he croaked in a drained voice,

"Huh... Such power. For a little gaah--aha...," then fell right back into unconsciousness.

"Espio! No!" Charmy was shaking him violently again, but no response came this time, so he went into a frantic cry of,

"He's dead! He'd dead! He's dead!..."

Now, this scene earned a huge sweatdrop from its audience, including the readers this time.

"Uh, I don't think that's the case, Charmy...," started Vector slowly.

"Yeah, huh... Don't worry," tried the cat girl.

Sonic shared a look with Amy who gave an embarassed laugh,

"Hehe... Uh...," she started, then when Vector faced her, hands on his hips with a glare of reproach and she sweatdropped as she tried,

"Uh... Oops?"

"Anything else, you'd like to say in your defense?" Annouced the green one.

"Hey! I didn't see him!"

"That's one I've heard before."

"He could have been a ghost for all I know! Like King Boom Boo playing tricks or something!"

"That wasn't you stage, Miss."

"Aww! Sonic, tell him!" She turned to her hero for help.

Sonic started uncomfortably as Amy clang to him,

"Uh, Vector, Amy doesn't have any good stages."

"What?"

"Huh, wait! That's not what I meant!"

"Hey. Hum, ... People?"

"Espio! He's dead! He's dead! He's deadhisdeaddeaddeded-hizdedhizded..."

"Miss, will you stop strangling that hedgehog and look at me when I'm trying to talk to you?"

"Hey! Guys? Maybe you should know that..."

"--izded!", a gasp for Charmy to refill his lungs in air, but no pause before screaming, "ESPIOOOO!"

A different gasp, "Amy! Aieah pleahs!"**_(4)_**

"Missy!"

"Uhm..."

****

"What's the meaning of all this ruckus!"

Suddenly there was silence and every one in the room, with the exception of the knocked out Espio, turned towards the source of that commanding voice.

Shadow stood by the door, grimacing as he looked about the room.

"I tried to tell you," declared the cat girl, shoving her hands in her pockets, "Mr. Shadow's room is the one just above this one. And he can hear a pin drop even from there, you know. That one night, in the dark, I was trying to find my way to the bathroom downstair--"

Shadow interrupted her,

"Seems like you people cannot find the courtesy to keep your hands off the other's throath even if it means disturbing your host's needed sleep."

The black hedgehog gave a meaningful glance in the bee's direction who immediately let go of Espio, the latter's head falling dramatically back to the ground with a thud like a heavy weight.

"Oh no," yelped Charmy, "Now he's dead for sure."

Vector approached him, sweatdrop the size of his head and reassured him, "Don't worry he's just K.O. He'll be O.K."

"Really? How do you know?"

"The dark Chao dancing about his head; and he's still breathing, now that you've stopped shaking him and released your grip on his neck."

"Oh, yeah. Oopsie." Vector tuttered.

As the two conscious members of Team Chaotix conversed over the knocked out third member, Shadow's gaze moved from them to settle on Amy who seemed to have stopped strangling the blue hedgehog to wrap her arms around his neck instead.

If possible, he's frown deepened, giving him his darkest, most mysterious and unrecognisable expression yet.

Sonic noticed that change in his features._ And_, he did not like it. His arms thightened around Amy almost subconsciously as he glared back his at his black counterpart.

The witnessing kitten could have sworn she'd seen a few sparks fly.

_Wow! The tension!_ It probably could have supplied enough power to feed the Tornado.

Yet, Amy was completely unaware of it. Of course, she had felt Sonic's loose hold on her turn into a protective hug, but she would probably have been able to enjoy it more if she hadn't caught sight of that brief light in Shadow's eyes just seconds earlier, because she now worried.

Amy always found something to be concerned or worried about, in all people, without an exception, because she was a caring person. A caring, short-tempered person with a dangerous, oversized hammer she could use anywhere and anytime, but a caring person nonetheless.

She was about to ask Shadow if something was wrong but then thought she ought first to apologize for the commotion she'd originaly started. Instead, the cat girl spoke first,

"You know, if there was one thought that made me feel better about stumbling in this weird and hostile world, it was the one of you already been here Mr.Sonic."

She easily caught everyone in the room's attention. Sonic regarded her with one of his special 'heroic' smiles.

"Really, huh?" he asked, a very detectable and familiar hint of pride in his voice.

"Sure, you're like my hero after all. Ever since that day you saved me from that mob of enraged fans of mine. Remember?"

"Yeah, that was one crazy mob. Can't remember why they were so mad at you in the first place...'

In a gesture of embarassment she scratched the back of her head as she mumbled, smiling sheepishly,

"Well, I'm not too sure about which 'part' got them so pissed either. Hehe."

Then in a much brighter tone, fists raised before her in excitement, she continued,

"But I was really amazed when you came to the rescue. I really couldn't have hoped for better right then. It's incredible how you just so suddenly appear where and when you're needed! And you can run real fast too..."

By the time she'd said that much, Sonic was quite flattered, it was obvious from the position in which he was now standing, hand on a hip, chin held up high in a heroic pose and he also uselessly started rubbing under his nose. Amy watched in something between confusion and surprise. The other people in the room held similar expressions to hers as they watched the cat girl intently.

Shadow however, was glaring sulkily at Sonic's smug smile, arms crossed as she continued,

"Of course, now that I'm a little more mature, I know better then to unerve my fans like that day. Want to keep a good popularity. I also know you're _not _the _only_ fast hedgehog in this world, now that I've met Mr. Shadow. You know, I think he glides at least as fast as you do. It's so cool! Almost feels like he's flying, sometimes!"

After she said this, Sonic and Shadow's face expessions were litterally inversed. Amy still had that confused look as she asked,

"Wait. Who are you, exactly? I'm not sure I know you."

The kitten sweatdropped,

"Hehe, talking about popularity. I wasn't sure about how many people would recognise my face as well as my voice..."

"Hey now, don't worry! I remember ya," said Sonic brightly, breaking the glare with Shadow, "Milky, wasn't it?"

The cat girl clapped her hands together, smiling broadly,

"Oh, how flattering that you remember me Mr.Sonic! It means so much to me!"

Amy's eyes went wide, as did Vector's and Charmy's with admiring recognition.

"You mean, you're _that star_!"

"Yup! Not gonna bore you with introductions thought, the authoress suggests I just send a card en-plein-ecran Sonic X style," she said, gesturing somewhere above her but not exactly skywards.

Everyone looked confused for a second and sweatdropped, "Who?"

"Get used to it. Weird stuff like that's gonna happen often when I'm around." Saying that, she moved and picked one of the Nights cards Sonic had dropped on the floor when Amy was strangling him, then threw it the screen way.

Now, my dear readers, for a few seconds all you read is the following.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Milky The Kitten

Age: 13

Species: Blue mackerel tabby cat

Speciality: Singing and swinging.

Noteable traces of character: Talkative and blunt. Blabs when not singing. Or sleeping.

Now quite the popular pop idol, Milky, often called 'Milk' for even shorter, dreams of becoming as 'cool' as the people she most admires.

Problem with that lies in the fact that they are too many of them, and that more keep on adding to her list.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peeling the card out of the screen's way, Milky glared at it grudgingly,

"Why does this make it sound like I'm some kind of crazy fangirl, anyway!"**_(5)_**

"So you're the one who sings 'Star in your universe'? I love that song, you know," said Amy cheerfully.

Milky's eyes instantly went watery sparkling, "You do, really? Oh, nothing makes me happier then knowing someone out there is entertained by my performances!**_(6)_** I'll sing and dedicate you a remix of it one of these days."

"Really?" Amy gushed, "Oh, thank you!"

"So now, we sing!"

"No, you won't!" snapped Shadow irritably, startling everyone in the room.

Seeing everyone's attention was favorably on him, he continued,

"You will all keep quiet now. Resting may be the smartest thing to do until morning, which is only a few hours away. You'll need your vigour for tomorrow, if not sooner."

And with that said, Shadow left the room as quiet as if it were empty.

Only seconds after his 'glorious' exit though, Sonic called after him,

"Yeah! Goodnight to you too!"

Then everything went awkwardly quiet again.

After a while, Milky broke the silence as she pulled at something under the great sofa,

"Come on, help me with this if you wanna know where to sleep. I'll sing a lullaby if you want."

Everyone in the room found the urge to yawn at that exact moment and their eyelids suddenly felt very heavy. Sonic dropped his entire weight on one of the comfy armchairs and annouced, "I'm sleeping here. Sweet dreams, guys," before dozing off almost as immediately.

Amy sighed sadly; so much for her fantasy of falling asleep in his arms or even just lying on his shoulder.

When she and Milky had the settee ready like a big bed, the latter asked Vector and Charmy 'if their friend Espio wouldn't feel better on it then lying there on the floor, against the wall'.

In response, the conscious Chaotix looked down at the violet cameleon, sleep and drowsiness slowly, surely taking over their more reasonable, less lazy judgement as they wondered silently, _'Was he really worth the trouble of carrying him all the way to that bed? Would he even be thankful in the morning if they did?'_ the answer was instantly and vividly imagined, _'No, he'd most probably be all grumpy about the big red, fresh bump currently growing larger on his head, and about how he got it too, so...'_

"Nah," Vector and Charmy answered in perfect unison.

"He's fine here, where he is."

"Yeah, right there where he is," confirmed Charmy with a fifth yawn as they both joined Amy and Milky to rest on the 'sofa-bed', it being large enough for them to keep a comfortable, respectful distance from one another.

In no time, everyone sheltered in New Club Rouge had drifted off to dreamland.

Or in some cases, nightmare-land.

* * *

... guardian...

Knuckles' head lifted up sharply, dreadlocks swaying around him in the sudden motion. His ears listening intently for any sound like that of the voice he thought he'd just heard speak out of nowhere.

All he heard for the following seconds were birds' songs and the ocean winds squeezing their way throughout Angel Island's forests' leafs and vines.

This place was, afterall, almost deserted. If it weren't for the occasional little animals that rumaged about, to give him the impression there were other lives around, Knuckles might have grown to believe he were a ghost among ruins.

For when he thought about it, sometimes, he truly did feel like a ghost. What better metaphor was there for the last member of a species, bound by duty to forever loyaly guard his ancestors' _treasures_?

One was a giant jewel that held mysterious powers of vital importance for the world's energy balance. An other was a floating island, rich enough in natural resources to keep its guardian alive, but its stability depended solely on the jewel that was that guardian's first burden. The rest, was ruins that layed on and beneath that Island's ground, with little to no readable inscribed traces of the past history they once were a part of.

All together those inheritances were enough to keep him alive and to give him reason to live. Still, sometimes it felt more like he existed rather then lived.

Given the too-long time he'd spent in this rather silent and dull company, it was only natural for the red echidna to jump at the first sound that resembled an intelligent call for him. Though, that might have all been just inside his head. Then again, not even that happened often.

...guardian...

Again. He heard it, again. That voice. It _wasn't_ his imagination.

He stood full hight and looked about for the source of it but found he could not even identify the general direction it came from. He waited for it again.

This time, when it came again, it was more distinguishable.

...guardian...Guardian of the Master Emerald... Guardian...

He knew the owner of that female voice, he just couldn't quite place whom that was right this instant. It came from everywhere around and inside him, like a distant echo.

"I am here. Who are you?"

... Guardian... Hear me...

"I hear you. Who--what do you want?" he was now more concerned then worried.

"Guardian of the Master Emerald... _Knuckles_."

Knuckles eyes went wide as the voice was now perfecty clear and recognisable to him.

"Tikal? Is that you? Where are you? How can I help?" He now knew where to head to hear the spirit of his orange ancester best.

"Knuckles, O guardian, please help! The servers!" She was pleading.

He ran for the shrine of the Master Emerald, fastest speed.

"Keep talking to me Tikal, what about the servers? What about the chaos emeralds?"

"...is too late. Hurry, before it's too late. The poem. You remember it, yes?"

Knuckles cursed his speed skills for somehow not having reached the shrine, yet. It just seemed like the distance between him and his goal was endless.

"Of course, I remember Tikal. But I still don't understand. You and Chaos, how come? I thought you were--"

"Now, Knuckles, now. Quickly, stop it."

He kept running but he wasn't moving anymore, everything around him turned black, safe for the still distant Master Emerald.

"Stop what? Tikal! What's going on!" Knuckles found himself floating in empty black space.

"Save them Guardian! Quickly!"

The Emerald suddenly was lighting like a green bright fire, which startled Knuckles beyond description.

"What the--!"

The last he heard from Tikal was her yell of despair,

**"Wake up!"**

Then Master Emerald shattered in a mighty explosion, releasing the growing burning light from within its prison as it engulfed the entirety of knuckles vision in a blinding white.

-

He woke up startled and breathing heavily.

'A nightmare. It was just a nightmare,' thought Knuckles as he regained his composture.

Was it? It sure had felt like more then just that.

He was sitting up from where he's being lying asleep minutes ago, on one of the large stairs of the shrine of the Master Emerald. He looked at it.

It was intact, and safe. So what had all this been about?

...Guardian!...

That startled him. "Tikal?" he asked bewildered.

No, it couldn't be real. He pinched himself.

"Ouch!" That hurt. Obviously he could do more then just punch to hurt.

'Knuckles!'

"Tikal!" he turned to the Emerald and there, for the briefest moment, he saw an image of Tikal and Chaos. The orange echidna's expression anxious like he'd never seen her before.

That image of them vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared when the Mater Emerald started to bright green.

Just like in his dream.

"It can't be!"

But it was happening still. The weather had been awful while he sleep and it was getting worse by the minute, the sky so clouded it felt impossible for a night to be any darker. Not the moon, not a single star from the usual billions could shine through.

And rain was starting to pour, just as suddenly as he'd awakened.

Throughout all of this closing-in storm, the Emerald shone brighter, like a growing fire, it burned, unnaturaly, as if in agony and cried sounds of an empty swirl.

Or was that sound produced by something else?

Knuckles thought as he listened more intently, helpless as he watched the Emerald's light increase drastically, like that of a dying star.

'Wait. A helicopter?'

But the bursting white the Emerald released as it exploded into an uncountable number of shards gave him no chance to assimilate much more.

-

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N:** (Plenty today, so take a deep breath...) 

**1-**Now children, listen carefully. Rouge here, is showing you the BAD example. You should never try and drown your trouble in alcoholic drinks. That's bad. Believe the authoress, she advises you not to drink** at all!**

**2-** He's right, you know. Again, alcohol is like smoking: very unhealthy! The're just like drugs, only permitted by most world governments. So what do we learn from this? That's right, no drinking. **'Tis bad fer ye!**

**3-**Now, now boys. Only Shadow can do that and get away with it. Do not try this at home!

**4-**This, I believe fairly translates as "Air please!"

**5-**Please bear with me, I assure you, Milky is no Mary-Sue OC. Just a fun asset to my plot bunnies as they seem to dig themselves very deep plot holes sometimes. Just humor me, please?

**6-:** clears throath: Yes, amazing how meaningful some sayings can be. Reviews do that to me too.

-

Reading through this chapter again, I decide to bang my head against the wall some more and also harder...

They just keep getting longuer and longuer, don't they? These chapters of mine. Is that a bad thing?

**Next chapter:** Tails and Cream get kidnapped? Knuckles thinks he knows precisely **who** to obtain information from about what happened to the Master Emerald? Eggman plays cards too? And... No way! Sonic plays with WATER?

-

I feel like **babbling right now**, so listen here:

Have you seen the E3 previews for the new Sonic games? I went all like 'OM!' when I did, specially when Shadow appeared. Believe it or not, I screamed in joy when I saw there were not one, not two, but three Sonic games coming on each of Sony PSP and PlayStation3 and Nintendo Wii (no longer a revolution, lol) and exclusively for each console too!

It looks cool, from what I've seen. It still irritates me though, to see Sega so damn intent on inserting new human characters in, like this princess who looks like Mary-Antoinette. But then again, I suppose we can't let the only human in the game be the 'evil' Eggman. But I do not like this new white hedgehog guy, yet. What's this new recruit? You gonna call him silver or white beard? No offense, his design is pretty cool, but he looks OLD! For a sec, I somehow thought he could be an elder Sonic, or worse, Shadow; but looking at it again, I don't think that's the case. But still, why add new characters each game? It's stealing the vedette from the more 'important' characters we already love.

I mean, really, who is this guy? I hope we don't have to see him too often either, 'cause seriously, three male hedgies for main characters is way too much!

As for the gameplay, it looks like it's gonna be pretty cool. Animation is nice too. I wanna see the rest of the characters, all of them! PS3 is gonna be freaking expensive though. Too bad. I wonder how much the games will cost too. My poor wallet is neither large not heavy enough to provide me all the hapiness I seek in the wonderful virtual world of videogames. :sighs sullenly:

Thank you for bothering to read this, now the next formal step is,

'go' submit review.


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